1. 区分;辨别;分清
    If you can distinguish one thing from another or distinguish between two things, you can see or understand how they are different.

    e.g. Could he distinguish right from wrong?...
           他能分辨是非吗？
    e.g. Research suggests that babies learn to see by distinguishing between areas of light and dark...
           研究表明婴儿通过辨别光亮和黑暗的区域来学会看东西。

2. (特质或特征)使有别于
    A feature or quality that distinguishes one thing from another causes the two things to be regarded as different, because only the first thing has the feature or quality.

distinguish的近义词

    e.g. There is something about music that distinguishes it from all other art forms...
           音乐的某种特质使其有别于所有其他艺术形式。
    e.g. The bird has no distinguishing features.
           这只鸟没有明显的特征。

3. 看出;听出;辨别出
    If you can distinguish something, you can see, hear, or taste it although it is very difficult to detect.

    e.g. There were cries, calls. He could distinguish voices.
           有哭声、喊声——他能听出不同的声音。

4. 使出名;使受青睐
    If you distinguish yourself, you do something that makes you famous or important.

    e.g. Over the next few years he distinguished himself as a leading constitutional scholar...
           在接下来的几年里，他作为一名宪法研究领域最杰出的学者而声名远扬。
    e.g. They distinguished themselves at the Battle of Assaye.
           他们在阿瑟耶之战中一战成名。